Speed-changing device.



F. N. GONNET. SPEED CHANGING DEVIQE. APPLIOATIOH FILED 111.215.1911.

Patented July 14, 1.914

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

F. N. 001mm] SPEED CHANGING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED Miami, 1911.

Patented July 14,191&

2 8HBETSSHEBT 2.

z al 607 762 2.2

varying the speed June 21, 1910,

use of the present invention.

\ as, or similar to,

actuating cam 13, isprovided and 17 which are actuated by hoaL.:=l8 and ed, and ope tmrrnn FREDERICK N. GONNET,'OF ".ERDVIDENCE, RH'ODE ISLAM $PEED-CHANG ING EDEVICE.

incense;

Application filed March 25,

To all whom it may concern v Be it known that I, FREDERICK N. CONNEI, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of certain new' and useful Improvements in Speed-Changing Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanism for of movement imparted by a driving member to a driven member, and has particular reference to meters of the type illustrated and described in my Patents 920,025 of April 27, 1909, and 962,817 of especially the latter. The particular type of meter referred to is espe- -ially applicable for indicating, integrating and recording the flow or water.

' With these andother objects in View, the

20 invention consists of certain novel features I of construction, as will be more fully described. and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Of the accompanying drawings, in which with parts of a manometer of the type illustrated in my said Patent 9G2,317;Figure 1- is a front elevation of enough of the complete apparatus to illustrate one especial Fig. 2- is a side elevation, partly in section, looking from the'left of 1. Fig. is a detail an view on a somewhat larger scale than Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. ilis a side elevation 35 of the parts shown in Fig. 3.

Similar reference characters indicate the some or similar parts in all of the views.

I will first briefly describe the parts of the structure illustrated which are the same those eml'irac'ed in my said Suitably mounted upon a base or \frame 1, are two cylinders 2 and 3, which are connected by a pipe 4. A shaft 11, mounted in a bearing 12 and having; an w th gears 16 Patent 962,3l7.

19, in the chambers 2 and 3 respectively, through the medium of racks 20 and 21. These parts 5) far mentioned are construct ate, similarly to the parts bearin the same reference numerals in the Patenttliiflli', so as the cam 13 in accordance with variz'ttions of pressure dili'erence in chambers to actuate the" floats, said floats Rhode Island, have invented to change the position of v the chambers 2 and 3, mercury being usually employed in said Specification of Letters Eat-exit.

Patented July id, 1914.

Serial No. 816,918.

cting to rotate the actuating cam 13 in proportion to their movement. The chamber 3 is connected by pipe 53 with the upstream side 52 or" a Venturi tube, While the chamber 2, is connected with the throat 5a of: said Venturi tube, by a pipe 55 so as to cause the floats to shift in the manner described in the said Patent 962,317.

Mounted on a bearin 22 is an arm 23 preferably having a kni le edge support on said hearing as indicated in the drawing. Said arm is provided with a pin or roll 24 which bears against the periphery of cam l3, a counterbalance weight 25 being connected to the arm to preserve contact or the said roll with the said cam in order that the rotation of the cam. will swing the arm 23.

Carried by the upper end of the arm 23 is a plate 26 which, for convenience, I shall refer to as the table, said table havin a circular opening for a ball 27. Preferaihly the table carries two anti-friction rolls 28 diametrically opposite each other and spaced to loosely receive the ball 27 between them. On opposite sides of the ball, on a diameter at an angle of ninety degrees to that of the rolls 28, are two Wheels or rolls 29 each of which is, broadly speaking, a driven memher, said two wheels being in frictional driving contact with ball 27. The driven wheels 29 are secured to, or are enlargements of, shafts 30 mounted in hearings above the table 26. Preferably, one of said bearings, as at 31, is carried. by an arm or bracket 32 which is pivotally connected, as at 33, to the table 26. As it is only necessary for this bearing to move enough to take up the wear of the ball and roll 20 its movement of course will be extremely slight, to accommodate which movement the bearing 31 is made rather short and the hole a trifle larger than the shaft. In Fig. 3, Said bracket is represented as elbow shaped, the

.outer arm having a slot 3% through which shafts 30 will cease if the tension of-the spring be released. Projecting from the face plale37 of the apparatus is a bracket 38, said bracket having-a bearing for the vertical spindle 39 of a disk 40. Said disk might be flat, but it preferably has a convex upper surface, the center. of curvature corresponding to the central point of the axis of the knife edge support of the arm 23. T he ball 27 rests upon the disk l0 and is supported thereby, and it will be understood of course that if the ball 27 is at the center of disk -10, no rotation of the latter will be ii'nparted to the ball and consequently none to the wheels 29 or their shafts. The spindle is connected by gearing 41 with a shaft 12 that is driven by clock work (not shown) in a. manner similar to the driving of shaft 23in the Patent 962,317 referred to, and during the operation of the machine the disk 40 is being constantly rotated at a uniform speed.

The shafts carry pinions 43 which mesh with a gear 1%, the latter being mounted on short shaft 14: which is geared as at 45 with the shaft of a counter or register 46 Which is supported by a bracket 47 which is an extension of table 26. I

It will now be understood that, if the cam 13 is rotated, the arm 23 is movedon its knife edge support so that the table 26 and the anti-friction rollers 28 carried by said table, will shift the ball 27. more or less toward or from the axis of rotation of the drivingdisk 10. Of course the greater the distance of the ball .27 from such axis, the

greater will be the peripheral speed of movement of said ball, and the greater will be the speed imparted to the driven wheels 29 and shafts 30 and consequently to the counting mechanism or whatever else is connected to such driven members.

With the embodiment of the invention illustrated the speed changing devices idescribed result in exhibiting the total'quantities in gallons, cubic feet, or other convenient units of measure, of liquids or gases passing through the Venturi tube.

In further resemblance to the Patent 962,317 hereinbefore referred to, I may provide ,an arm or pointer l8 rising from the swinging table and co-acting with a record sheet carried by a disk 49 that is usually actuated at a uniform speed by suitable clock work mechanism.

\Vith this speed changing device, there can be considerable pressure between the driving disk and the ball, Without in any ray affecting the ease of the radial movement of the ball when it is shifted, this being due to the fact that the ball has rolling and not sliding contact with every part or member with which it is in contact. If desired the ball may be of lead, or it maybe of harder metal filled with lead, or it may be of any suitable material covered with riibgreater friction cociiicient than. metal. If the ball be made of metal it may be smooth or roughened according to the particular use of the device or the preference of the user, or any other means may be employed for increasing the effectiveness of the friction drive of the ball.

In order to obtain the most accurate reading from any sensitive measuring instru ment it is essential that the coefficientof friction of the moving parts be reduced. to the minimum. Therefore instead of the wheel usually employed to be moved over the surface of the driving disk as illustrated in above mentioned Patent 962,317 I now employ a ball for this purpose.

Of course it is essential that the ball shall be freely rotatable in any direction relatively to its carrier, such. carrier, in the present instance, including the two rolls 2-8 and the two wheels 29, all supported by the shiftable table 26. This capability of uni.- versal movement of the ball is necessary be cause it must rotate on one axis when. b .n; shifted radiallyof the driving disk 41-.0 wl ile it must rotate on a different axis asit is being driven by the disk 40. Therefore it will be readily understood-that a wheel or disk mounted to rotate on a shaft having a fixed axis could not be substituted for the ball.

liy'the term exhibitor employed herein, I mean to include either of the different kinds of mechanisms which are commonly referred to as recorders, or registers, or in die-ators or integrating devices.

The arm 23, elongated and supported upon a pivot below the substantial center of gravity of the said arm, and the parts carried thereby, constitute in eii ect an inverted pendulum in that the entire weight of the said arm and Whatever carried thereby is sup-- ported at a single pivotal point that is well below the center of gravity thereof.

1 claim:

.1. In a measuring device an exhibitor and mechanism for actuating the latter, said mechanism including a driving disk disposed substantially in a horizontal plane, a driven member, an intermediate gravity retained ball for transmitting motion from said disk to said driven member, and means for shifting the ball bodily relatively to the axis of the disk, whereby the reading of the. exhibitor is controlled.

2. In a i'neasuring device of the character described, an exhibitor, a driving disk disposed substantially in a horizontal plane, a driven membe and intermediate gravity retained ball for transmittii'ig motion from the disk to said exhibitor through said. driven member, and means for shifting the ball bodily relatively to the axis of the disk.

3. A measuring device comprising an inverted pendulum, an exhibitor carried thereber, leather, or other material having a I by, a Venturi tube and means actuated by diflerences of pressure in said tube for actuating said endulu'm and exhibitor said means inclu ing a driving disk and a driven member, an intermediate ball for transmitting motion from said disk to said exhibitor, and means for shifting the ball relatively to V the axis of said disk.

4. In a measuring device an inverted pendulum an exhibitoncarried thereby, a driv-' 5. Ina measuring device, an exhibitor, an oscillatlng arm carrying said exh1b1tor,'a

pair of shafts having anti-friction rolls, a.

bail between and in contact with said rolls. a spring for holding the shaft rolls in contact with the ball, and a rotatable ball driv ing disk on which the ball rests and through the movement of which disk the exhibitor is operated through the bail and one ofsaid shafts. r

In testimony thereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK N. GONNET. Witnesses: HowAnn-E. Bannow, E. I. OGDEN. 

